continued from part 2.
"Too young to serve his nation in the fighting forces on land or sea during
the War of 1812, Mr. Allen contributed his share by assisting a committee
consisting of James B. Mason, John Carlisle and William Blodgett, appointed
to fortify Field's Point, Kettle Point, Fox Point, Fort Hill, and other
places around the head of the Bay where breastworks could be thrown up and
guns mounted. This so-called 'Committee of Defense' of which Mr. Allen was
secretary, met almost daily from September 19, 1814, to January 16, 1815,
and a considerable amount of work was accomplished. Mr. Allen's record of
the amount of labor expended in constructing fortifications in the vicinity
of Providence, during September and October of 1814, is an interesting
memorandum. Out of a grand total of 3100 days of labor contributed for
this phase of preparedness for war, 'the United Train of Artillery
performed about 145 days; the students of Brown University, 140 days; the
local Freemasons, 200 days; the inhabitants of Johnston, 190 days; the
Gentlemen of the Bar, 28 days; and the Free people of color, 96 days.' To
prevent an invasion by water, a line of hulks was anchored off Pawtuxet,
ready to be scuttled at a moment's notice to block the harbor channel, and
communications were established down the Bay to spread the alarm throughout
the State if any hostile movements of the enemy should be
discovered. Happily though, no British ships entered these waters. On the
12th of February, 1815, Providence church bells were tolled, and the
artillery fired salutes of victory; the news of peace reached Rhode Island
on that day.
Apparently, Zachariah Allen devoted but little of his life to the practice
of law, but he did become an active public servant, holding various offices
in the Town Council, in the city government as Judge of Probate, and as a
representative in the General Assembly. Providence first learned of his
advanced ideas and progressive ambitions when, in 1821, he proposed at a
town meeting that a fire engine be purchased for the better protection of
the citizens and their property. He proposed that the Town acquire, as he
termed it, 'a forcing hose engine for the extinguishment of fires', and he
promptly found himself a member of a special committee instructed to report
on the project. The following year the town purchased an 'Hydraulion'
engine from a Philadelphia concern, thus introducing to Providence its
first fire engine and hose equipment, replacing the hand buckets previously
used. This new engine was so powerful that it required thirty-six firemen
to man and operate it, and with it were secured 1000 feet of copper-riveted
hose. Mr. Allen designed a copper suction pipe with folding joints which
was put into use, thereby making it practical to draw water from the river
at any point, and throw a stream upon a blaze hundreds of feet away. The
first fire, where the new equipment was given a practical test, was in the
large stable on Westminster Street, near or on the present site of the new
Industrial Trust Building. The hose was laid to the cove, north of the
present railroad station, which cove, of course, is no longer there, and
little time was lost in throwing a strong stream upon the raging fire. The
blaze was quickly quenched; no bucket brigade was required; and Mr. Allen's
idea was universally approved, completely establishing the new, and
abolishing the old system of fighting fires. Incidentally, at 'Hydraulion
No. 1's' first bath of fire, smoke and water, a Mr. James, described as a
venerable citizen, became so excited that he fell dead at the scene."
continued in part 4.